I had an argument with my parents and some older people. Why when we look at the past, things were seemingly better? Numerous plague and disease are discovered each day, news of disasters highlighted in every newspapers. Rapture anyone?
In the past, nobody in Bangkok gives a shit when a volcano erupted in Santorini, New York, London, knew nothing for the next few months when Krakatoa erupted, but they jumped on every news cables about oncoming tsunami wave before it even struck Japan. I was aware of the tsunami, 35 minutes before it arrived in Sendai, thanks to BBC.co.uk and USGS.
In the past, so few recalled that 2 jumbo jets collided at each other in Tenerife, that was 1979.
Thanks to internet, cheap cell phones, cheap cameras, cheap TVs, anyone can afford one and report something in a matter of seconds, someone in Singapore received a news that an A320 safely ditched in Hudson River.
Well this is my rationalisation,
As economy progresses (costs of acquiring goods and services are getting lower), many previously poor family from poor background are getting wealthier. They now can afford what they previously can't, yet education do not progress or spread as fast as the economy growth. In addition, technology has enabled people to do anything, including stupid things like shown in classic cartoon shows. Perhaps we can enact some seemingly stupid rules to bring common sense to this newly rich people.
Evidence?
Cheapening general audience taste: cheap musics (synthesized voice instead of talent), cheap movies (horrors with too many effects), cheap TV shows (trashy reality shows, gossips), cheap magazines (celebrity issues gossips), seemingly dumbing down societies (asking non-expert celebrity opinion on issues).
Cheaper goods, lower quality goods are made available so that household with lower income can afford. They call this an improvement in "standards of living", since poor people can't afford magical vacuum cleaner in the past, they can only sweep the floor with broom and inhale all the dust. Now vacuum cleaners are affordable. For the "old rich", they saw this as a decreasing quality of life. Imagine with cars, what harm does uneducated drunkard, bad behaving, tough-life drivers can do with cars that they can afford.
According to this
websiteYour average salary in 1940s USA will be roughly USD 1,300 per year. Your minimum hourly pay was USD 0.43 per hour. With this salary you can buy
8 x 1.25oz Hershey bars, 5 cents each, and a bottle of soda for 3 cents.
In 1980s the minimum was at about USD 3.10 per hour, you can buy 10 x 1.45oz Hershey bars with 10 cents left for practically nothing, a 1 litre bottle of soda was USD 0.99 btw.
Is this a liberal exaggeration?
Take a look at what I experienced myself:
Airline tickets for a 864 km trip with a full-service airline cost me $450 back in 1994, that includes 37" legroom, inflight meal, and an inflight screen show, which isn't that good if you sit too far behind. I have to make a call to reserve a seat (premium rate), reconfirm the booking (another call), and then do a manual check-in.
Today, with the same airline it cost me $110, plus individual Audio Video on Demand (PTV), 32" legroom, selectable meals, practically free reservation and check-in services (if you made it with free internet connection), and free toiletries.
Things that I miss from the past include cartoon shows, Concorde flights, but mostly it is just my personal taste, which mostly are irrational. It seems that many "old rich" can't see the fact that they too are becoming dumbed down, a major political exploit.